The village of Bahnasa lies roughly 300 km south of the coastal metropolis of Alexandria or 160 km southwest of Cairo (ancient Memphis). It is situated on the Bahr Yusuf, the branch of the Nile that terminates in Lake Moeris and the Faiyum oasis.

Known in the Dynastic period as Per-medjed, Oxyrhynchus rose to prominence under Egyptís Hellenistic and Roman rulers. It was a prosperous regional capital, reckoned the third city of Egypt and home town of the sophist Athenaeus. In later antiquity it was famous for its many churches and monasteries. Today the village of Bahnasa occupies part of the ancient site.

The archaeological site of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt is highly regarded as the most important grammatological location discovered in history. The site has yielded an enormous collection of papyri dating from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods that help explain early Egyptian history and corroborate ancient European and Eastern philosophies ...